Why a Virtual Assistant should be an Entrepreneurs First Hire

Starting a business is no mean feat! There’s always so much to do and in most cases – so little time. If you’re an entrepreneur, you’ll know that deciding what your priorities are is extremely important. What investments are most important? Where should you be spending most your time and energy? During the start-up phase of most businesses, the budget is tight. Even if you need some extra help during this busy time, the thought of hiring a personal assistant may still seem like an unwarranted or unaffordable cost if you’re just starting out. Right?

Wrong.

As an entrepreneur, you take on as many roles as possible, because, well, you need to. You wear every hat imaginable to get things going and make it work. You might find yourself doing anything and everything that your operations require. Dedication and commitment is required during this time, but this set up opens the door to making small mistakes – small mistakes that could have major consequences in the long run.

Cue a Virtual Assistant!

When you outsource a virtual assistant, you are not only bringing someone new into the team. You are making the best business decision you could possibly make. You know that your time is valuable and that it should be spent on priorities and not administrative or time-consuming necessity tasks. This is where a virtual assistant can really give you the freedom you need to succeed.

Here’s why…

Being an entrepreneur means that there is a lot to do. Not all of it entails strategic thinking or high-level expertise. A lot of the time you’ll be doing the dirty work. Balancing the check book, booking tickets, running to the post office and all other office admin. We’re not entirely sure that ordering new office stationery should be where you spend your energy!

When you start to outsource your work and you start to delegate your tasks, you begin to free up more time for yourself and your passions. Being overworked and overwhelmed is usually one of the main problems that pop up when business owners talk about their productivity.

With too much work being thrown at a start-up, and in turn there is a high chance of burnout expected. You forget about a meeting you have while you are on the phone trying to organise the office inventory you are trying to move into your new space. You can’t get in touch with your clients as you are dealing with book keeping for the day. You are drowning. But that is the beauty of a virtual assistant. They are there to share the load, and they come with their own kind of benefits.

Having a virtual assistant means that you will always have someone available to do a task. Their job is to be free for you, no matter what tasks need to be done. Even better, hiring a virtual assistant in a different time zone ensures work will be done on time, even earlier! You will not need to worry that the money you are putting in is going to waste as there are so many tasks that a virtual assistant can help with. Here is just a brief list:

1. Social Media

If you are a start up, this is vital for your business to prosper. You need your social media accounts consistently and always managed. Your clients need to know that you are there and that you are providing them with what they expected in the first place. A lot of the time, if a virtual assistant can’t do everything in a social realm, they will have a plan B where they will still be able to help. A sister company of AVirtual is Prime Pixels. You will not only get help with managing your social media but it will, in turn, be optimised by the experts that form part of that team.

Your online presence should be on the top of your list when it comes to marketing yourself. Don’t take it all on. Learn to delegate and you will find yourself in a less overwhelming environment.

2. Business Growth

Your business is your baby. You are starting it up and you want to see results. We are not saying that your virtual assistant will give you all the clients in the world, but they can help the process run a lot more smoothly. A virtual assistant won’t just prioritise your diary (which they do an excellent job of anyway), but they will begin to understand what you want and will organize your life for you to have the time and energy for the more important tasks.

At the end of the day, business growth means more work, whether you want to believe it or not. Why not give some of that work over and truly see where your business can go?

3. Financial Growth

Collaborating is a powerful tool if you want your business to succeed. When hard work pays off, you will certainly start to see the difference it makes. Without a growing business, you will not be able to have a growing financial realm. You not only have decreased operational costs but deciding on a virtual assistant means you can literally choose anyone from anywhere in the world. You can even go with the cheapest option if that’s what you think will be best for your business at the moment.

Having a virtual assistant can sometimes be a misconception for someone having an extra luxury. On the contrary, it may take away less from your business than you think. Think about it. You won’t have to pay for any of the equipment, office supplies and you will pay them for the work that has been completed. Sounds like a good deal!

4. Admin tasks

Multitasking is their strong point. You can give them a range of tasks and they are trained to get it all done on time. Administrative tasks take time and may not be as important as other tasks you have lined up. This is where you can start handing them over and watch the magic take place.

And at the end of the day, you will not need to train them on the above tasks, as it all falls under their job description. Depending on the task you give them, however, you may want things done a specific way where a conversation is all that is needed. If for some reason there are tasks that you feel form part of your values or you just enjoy doing it, then don’t delegate it.

Find someone that you can see yourself getting along with. Pick someone that you feel will understand the business the way you want them to. And ensure that no matter what, you keep an open rule of communication. That way you will still have the control you want over your business, just with the support of others.